


i couldn't hide from the thunder

by Aziraphales (arka_r)



Series: Human Gabriel AU [1]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Aziraphale is "just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing" (Good Omens), Background Relationships, Gen, Human Gabriel (Good Omens), One Shot, POV Gabriel (Good Omens), Post-Almost Apocalypse (Good Omens), Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Sad Gabriel (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 05:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20791238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arka_r/pseuds/Aziraphales
Summary: After the event of Aziraphale's execution, Gabriel was turned into a human with no explanation whatsoever.Aziraphale/Crowley/Gabriel pre-relationship.





	i couldn't hide from the thunder

**Author's Note:**

> beta'd by [SaerM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaerM). thank you very much!!
> 
> title is from Florence and the Machine 'Sky Full of Song'
> 
> _Grab me by my ankles_  
I've been flying for too long  
I couldn't hide from the thunder  
In the sky full of song

It was a rather nice day on Earth. The sun was shining through the trees, the birds were chirping, and the people walked around him, looking at him with an odd expression on their faces.

However, Gabriel didn’t know why he was on Earth.

He was in his office one moment, doing paperwork and transferring files to the lower department. Just another day at the Head Office, and Gabriel was enjoying the peace as he worked. 

That was until he was being yanked down by his core, so suddenly and so violently. It was a very strong yank, and Gabriel was… horrified, thinking that he had Fallen.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that he had landed in a park, close to where he normally would jog when he was on Earth. The grass surrounding him was wet with the residue of the morning dew. Deciding that there was some kind of mistake, he closed his eyes and put his hands together as he prayed.

However, he received no answer in return. 

And he noticed another thing was missing: he couldn’t feel his core.

He couldn’t feel his connection to the Almighty, but it didn’t feel like it had been severed. It felt like it was dulled to the point he couldn’t feel it anymore.

He was panicking for real. Had he truly Fallen? But why? And how? He didn’t think he’d done anything that warranted a Fall. Did he receive a warning but fail to take notice of it? Was it some kind of mistake? But no — he knew that the Almighty would make no mistake.

This was too much for him—  _ too much _ .

It felt as if his chest was too full and he was gasping for air. The sensation was new for him; he was used to not needing to breathe. And now he felt like if he didn’t breathe, he would— he would— 

“Gabriel? Is that really you?” A voice entered his consciousness, and Gabriel used it as a guide out of the horrible sensation he was feeling. The voice sounded horribly familiar.

“Stay back, angel”, another voice joined in. “He could be playing something.”

“I don’t think so. It does look like he needs help”, the first voice said. “Besides, do you think Gabriel has the wit to trick us like this?”

Gabriel finally lifted his head up (he hadn’t realized that he’d had his face hidden in the crook of his arms) and saw the traitors — Aziraphale and his demon pet, Crowley — standing in front of him. Gabriel stood up and patted at his grass-stained suit, frowning when the stain refused to go away.

“What are you doing on Earth, by the way? Trying to drag Aziraphale back Up once again?” the demon asked, but Gabriel paid no attention to him. He was still trying to remove the stain from his precious suit. He tried to reach down into his core and pulled the energy from within to perform a miracle, only to find nothing.

Nothing. There was nothing inside him. He was… hollow.

“Here, just let me—” Aziraphale snapped his fingers impatiently and the stain was gone just like that.

Gabriel frowned. “I didn’t need your help.”

“Obviously”, Aziraphale said with an odd smile.

“I can use my own miracle. I just— I need—”

“Gabriel”, Aziraphale said. “Are you, you know… Fallen?”

“What?! No!” Gabriel said almost too defensively. “At least, I don’t think so.”

Now that his head was clearer, it didn’t seem like it. First, he assumed that if he was truly Fallen, he would Fall to Hell instead of Earth. Second, he was sure that if he had Fallen, he could still feel his angelic… or, well,  _ demonic  _ core.

“Huh”, Aziraphale hummed, breaking Gabriel out of his thoughts. “Your eyes. They’re… grey?”

“Now that’s odd”, the demon Crowley muttered as he inched his face closer to Gabriel’s face, much, much too close for Gabriel’s comfort. “And you smell like… a human?”

“Stay back, you fiend!” Gabriel shoved the demon away from him. The demon stumbled, but that traitor Aziraphale caught him.

“You are! You are human!” the demon crowed triumphantly.

“I’m not! There was— There has to be some kind of an explanation!” Gabriel sniffed, indignant.

“Yeah, and what that might be? That the Almighty turned you into a human willy nilly?” the demon asked with a cackle. “Archangel  _ fucking _ Gabriel, now a human! Oh how the mighty have fallen!”

Gabriel didn’t know what to say at that — and he refused to admit that the demon might be right.

So he turned and walked away.

—

He found a church not too far from the park, and, out of desperation, entered it. If he couldn’t reach Her out here, surely She would listen to him when he was inside Her house.

But inside, he was disappointed when he could only feel emptiness instead of the holiness of Her Grace. There was no warmth, no light, nothing to connect him to Her, even here in Her house — and at its absence, Gabriel found himself desperately missing it.

He didn’t know what to do.

Had he really been turned into a human? Why, though? Was it some kind of test? Was She testing him? But why? Had he done something to displease Her as of late?

These questions, if he was being honest, terrified him. He was not used to questioning Her — that was how you Fell. But he was not an angel anymore, was he now? He was a human, and he was…

He was…

He was completely alone.

Was this how being a human felt? So small and so alone. No wonder it was so easy for them to fall into temptation and sin. Was it going to be his fate? To be human… it sounded  _ terrifying _ .

Gabriel didn’t know how long he stayed in that church, praying. He kept praying as the day grew darker and the lights flickered on. He paid no attention to his dry mouth or rumbling stomach — he kept on praying, praising Her name in an attempt to get Her attention.

But there was no answer, nothing. Only silence that grew louder as his ears rang.

It was around dawn when his vision swam. He didn’t know what was happening to him, but he could feel that exhaustion was part of it.

He barely had a chance to react, before everything went dark.

—

When Gabriel woke up, he was in an unfamiliar room, with a patterned blanket covering him — what was it called? Ah yes, tartan. Odd thing, he thought.

Sunlight was seeping into the room through the window, bathing it with golden glow. His thistle-colored coat was folded neatly on the back of a chair by the bed. Now that Gabriel saw it, he realized that he was dressed only in his white shirt and grey pants. Meanwhile, his shoes were lying at the foot of the bed.

His head still felt so light when he tried to sit up. His mouth felt dry, and there was a gnawing sensation eating at his stomach. He didn’t understand what was happening to him, to this  _ human _ body of his. He felt weak and sluggish, and he still felt so hollow, so cold. Actually, his entire body still felt so cold, like he could never be warm again.

“Oh good, you’re awake”, Aziraphale walked into the room, carrying a tray with him as he did, and Gabriel could see that demon of his peeking from behind him. Gabriel let out a groan. He wasn’t in the mood to entertain these two traitors right now, but it didn’t seem that he had any choice in the matter. It wasn’t like he could get up and escape in his weakened state.

“I brought you food”, Aziraphale said, breaking the silence, smile on his lips. “I figured you must be hungry.”

“Hung…ry?” Gabriel blinked, confused. The word felt odd on his tongue, unfamiliar, even though he understood what it meant. That word had never applied to him before —  _ should _ have not applied to him  _ ever _ .

“That’s what you got for not eating for six thousand years”, the demon added.

“Angels don’t need to eat”, Gabriel pointed out.

“But you’re not an angel anymore, are you now?” Aziraphale said, and  _ ouch _ , that did hurt. “For whatever reason now, you are a human, and humans  _ need _ to eat.”

“This is not permanent. There has to be a mistake”, Gabriel insisted.

“Perhaps”, Aziraphale said almost too calmly. There was a hint of something in his voice that Gabriel couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “But you are still a human for the time being, with all of your humanly needs.”

Gabriel opened his mouth and then closed it — he couldn’t argue with that.

Meanwhile, Aziraphale busied himself with the tray he was carrying. Opening the lid, he revealed… food. Lots and lots of food. In fact, Gabriel had never seen so much food. He didn’t even know what it all was , only that it was meant to be eaten. 

And they smelled… oh, dear Lord… they smelled  _ very good _ .

Gabriel recoiled as if he was being burned.

“I prepared you full English breakfast”, Aziraphale said, his smile absolutely beaming. “Would you like to try?”

Gabriel could feel his stomach rumble, that gnawing feeling was back once again, and his mouth was growing wetter. He eyed Aziraphale cautiously.

“Is this a trap?” he asked.

“No, no trap”, Aziraphale smiled. “I am simply concerned of you, you see. You have been turned into a human. I truly don’t know how it must’ve felt.”

The demon behind Aziraphale let out a chuckle.

Gabriel eyed Aziraphale once again, then to the array of food in front of him.

“Come on. Just a bite”, Aziraphale said, as he speared a long brown stuff with a fork and offered the utensil to Gabriel. “You must be  _ famished _ . You need to eat.”

Gabriel didn’t realize he had backed away from the offending thing. But this close to it, he could smell it even more prominently. It smelled good, despite how disgusting it looked. Before he could stop himself, he opened his mouth and took the whole thing in.

It was messy. The thing was too big to be inside his mouth, making it hard for him to close his lips. Some kind of oil dripped down his chin, and Gabriel quickly wiped it before it could reach his shirt.

“That’s right. Now you’ve got to chew”, Aziraphale instructed, clacking his teeth together to demonstrate how it was done.

Gabriel knew how to chew. He did as he was told.

His teeth bit into it easily as he chewed. Its texture was odd, but not unpleasant. And its taste…  _ dear Lord _ , he had never tasted anything like it before, and he didn’t think he could describe it even if he tried. The most logical part of his brain thought it was disgusting and revolting, but he couldn’t stop chewing it. His mouth was growing wetter, and the taste grew even stronger.

“Now you’ve got to swallow”, Aziraphale said.

Swallowing took more effort than he expected, but the food slid down his esophagus easily, much to his surprise. The sensation was odd, but again, it was not unpleasant. 

He had eaten, he realized with a dawning horror. He had just eaten a food, sullying the temple of his celestial body. He wondered if it would leave a stain, once he was no longer a human.

“There, wasn’t that bad, was it?” Aziraphale asked.

Gabriel stared at Aziraphale as if he had gone insane.

“Try the egg, now”, Aziraphale offered the yellow… mushy thing.

“I… ate”, Gabriel returned. “Shouldn’t that be… enough?”

“That sausage won’t sustain you in the long run”, Aziraphale tutted. “You need to eat more.”

“… more?” Gabriel said weakly.

“That’s right, more”, Aziraphale said sweetly. “Humans generally need to eat three times a day.”

“You’re lying”, Gabriel said with an awkward laugh.

But Aziraphale’s expression was unchanged, and dread settled in the pit of his stomach.

“It’s true…?” Gabriel still couldn’t believe it. “And they eat this…  _ this  _ many each time?”

“More or less”, Aziraphale answered.

Gabriel’s eyes widened.

“But that means humans spent a lot of their time eating! How do they manage to accomplish anything at all?” he cried out in disbelief.

“Oh boy”, the demon Crowley said with a chuckle. “Just wait until you hear about other basic human needs.”

Gabriel very much did not want to hear about other basic human needs, not if they were just as horrifying as the whole ordeal with eating. 

But it wasn’t like he had any choice in the matter.

—

“Alright”, Aziraphale said once the food was gone and the tray was removed. “Now we need to address the problem.”

“I feel hot”, Gabriel said as he fiddled with the collar of his shirt. “I was cold, but now I feel hot. It doesn’t feel good.”

“Yes, that’s what happens when you eat”, Aziraphale said. “Now your body is burning the food you’ve eaten for energy. Isn’t it marvelous?”

“It’s  _ gross _ ”, Gabriel told Aziraphale. “Make it stop.”

“Now, now. Don’t be so callow”, Aziraphale tutted. “As I was saying, we need to address the problem. That is, to figure out what is really happening and how to reverse it.”

“ _ We? _ ” Gabriel asked.

“Crowley and I, of course. And you too, I suppose”, Aziraphale said with a small sway.

“You’ll help?” Gabriel couldn’t believe his ears. Why would the traitors want to help him?

“You kind of crash-landed into our happily ever after, you see”, the demon Crowley butted in. “So we figured the only way to make you go away is to make you an angel once again. Either that, or I hand you over to Lord Beelzebub. I bet ze would love it, but Aziraphale kind of disagreed.”

“It’s the principle of the thing”, Aziraphale returned calmly, before placing a quick kiss to the demon’s cheek. 

Gabriel made a face at that.

“Could you stop that?” he asked. “It’s—”

“None of your business?” Aziraphale said with a smile. There was an edge to his smile that made Gabriel squirm uncomfortably.

“I was going to say ‘indecent’. Fraternizing with a demon, really?” Gabriel couldn’t believe his eyes. And Aziraphale looked unrepentant with the whole thing too!

“Do you want us to help you or not? Because if you do, you need to get used to us being, well… us. We’re not hiding our relationship from you, not anymore”, Aziraphale said, his stare burning.

Gabriel was not used to this… brand new Aziraphale. He was used to Aziraphale being soft and meek, so easy to be put into submission. But this Aziraphale was bold and cheeky.

“I never asked for your help!” Gabriel raised his voice. As if he was going to let Aziraphale walk all over him. He was an Archangel, for God’s sake! Aziraphale was  _ nothing _ compared to him.

But instead, it was the demon Crowley who laughed at him.

“Oho! That’s rich, coming from you. What are you going to plan now? Staying in a church praying until She answers you?” the demon asked. “Well, let me spare you the trouble now and tell you that it’s not going to work!”

“You don’t know how She works, you demon!” Gabriel said defensively. “I just need to pray some more. Recite more scriptures!”

“What, and pass the fuck out once again?” the demon hissed. “Was the first time not enough? We didn’t carry your sorry ass from that church back here so you can waste all of our effort to make you stay the fuck alive!”

“Both of you, enough!” Aziraphale interrupted, his voice booming, and both Gabriel and the demon Crowley was stunned into silence. “We won’t achieve anything with arguing! Gabriel, do you want to be an angel again or not?”

“Of course”, Gabriel sniffed.

“Then allow us to help you. Three heads are better than one, and believe us, we  _ really  _ want to help you”, Aziraphale said.

“The sooner you’re gone, the better for us”, Crowley mumbled, but he shut up when Aziraphale glared pointedly at him.

“Do you have a better plan? Something better than mine?” Gabriel asked.

“Yes, actually”, Aziraphale answered. “We’re going to take you to the Head Office.”

—

Gabriel doubted a lot of human things, but there was nothing he doubted more than the contraption they used as a means of transportation. The…  _ thing  _ they called automobile (or car) was just a box of metal with wheels. It didn’t look remotely safe, if Gabriel was being honest.

He eyed the demon’s car distrustfully, before turning to Aziraphale. “I’m not getting in  _ there _ .”

“The Bentley is not  _ that  _ bad”, Aziraphale said. “And Crowley has learned not to drive without looking at the road, aren’t you, my dear?”

There was a threat in the plump angel’s voice, but Gabriel was surprised to find that it was not aimed at him for once.

“Ngk”, the demon replied dutifully from behind the steering wheel. “Sure, angel. Hands on the wheel all the time, eyes on the road. Only safe driving from here on.”

“Can’t we just… walk?” Not that Gabriel didn’t trust the demon, but he still very much didn’t trust the demon.

“It’s too far to be reached on foot”, Aziraphale said. “Unless you prefer… the Tube?”

Gabriel didn’t know what the Tube was, and he decided he didn’t  _ want _ to know. 

And that was how he ended up sitting on the Bentley’s backseat, gripping his knees with deathly grip as the demon drove like… well, a demon straight out of Hell. Even with all of his limited knowledge about humanity, he knew that the way the demon drove was highly dangerous and unsafe.

When they stopped, Gabriel felt like his soul had detached from his body and his heart was hammering in his chest.

“There. It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Aziraphale said, almost beaming as he exited the Bentley, and Gabriel found that he was unable to speak. He was afraid that if he spoke, he would end up throwing up all the food he’d just eaten.

“And here we are!”

With a flourish, Aziraphale gestured towards a tall building. Gabriel didn’t recognize it, but then again he normally didn’t use the Front Door, per se. Why walk when he had other more reliable means of transportation? But now that he was temporarily a human, his options were severely limited.

“Uh”, the demon piped up from where he parked his car. “I suddenly have doubts with this plan. Are you… just going to walk right in?”

“That was the plan, yes”, Aziraphale answered.

“It’s not going to work”, the demon said.

“Of course it is going to work”, Aziraphale returned. “Have faith. Gabriel, shall we?”

“Oh, right”, Gabriel blinked and followed Aziraphale to the automatic door that was the Front Door.

Except the door refused to open and Gabriel hit his face with a ‘thud’.

Gabriel eyed the door, then to Aziraphale, who was already standing in the lobby. Frustrated, Gabriel walked backwards, before trying once again. 

Nothing happened. The door still refused to open.

“You need to have faith!” Aziraphale said.

“I  _ am  _ having faith”, Gabriel returned through gritted teeth as he tried to force his way through the door, shoulder pressing against the glass uselessly. It still refused to budge. Finally, he snapped and banged his fist against the glass door.

“I am the Archangel Gabriel, and you! Will! Not! Treat! Me! Like! This!!” he shouted, one bang for each word.

“Wait! Gabriel, stop!” Aziraphale rushed out of the building. Gabriel felt his arms around his waist as he pulled him away. “Crowley, help me out here!”

“No, no. This is all your idea. I wanna see if he can smash through the glass through sheer determination alone”, the demon Crowley cackled.

“Oh, come on!” 

—

“Alright, now what?” Crowley asked once they were back in the car. The metal death trap was heading back towards the bookshop.

Gabriel was back in the backseat, his hands gripping his knees tight as the car swerved left and right to avoid the traffic. After snapping at the damned Front Door, he had been dragged away from the building by that traitorous Aziraphale and his pet demon. He was still seething until the car began to move — then, he was too busy staring at the road, the fear of God (or rather, the fear of Crowley) beginning to form inside him.

“Now, we go to Plan B”, Aziraphale answered almost too calmly for someone who was sitting at the front seat, in Gabriel’s honest opinion.

“What is Plan B?” Gabriel couldn’t help but ask. He wondered how many plans Aziraphale had.

“Plan B is… Adam”, Aziraphale replied, but his answer only made Gabriel even more confused.

“What does the first human do with this?” he asked again.

“Not Adam the first human, Adam the Antichrist”, Aziraphale said rather impatiently. “He still has some of his powers to shape reality. We figured, we might as well try to make you an angel once again.”

“So we’re going to Tadfield now?” Crowley asked.

“The sooner we get this over with, the better”, Aziraphale said.

“Gotcha.”

The car turned sharply right, causing Gabriel to stumble in his seat.

—

Of course, things were not going as smoothly as they had planned. 

Currently, the Bentley was stuck among other cars, in what Crowley had dubbed ‘M25, Hell’s Greatest Invention’. It was noisy with cars honking and people shouting and grumbling. General discomfort hung in the air like some kind of noxious cloud.

It was awful, but Gabriel paid it no mind.

Instead, he was staring outside his window, marveling at how full of cars the M25 was: each car containing humans just like the Bentley did. He knew that there were a lot of humans on Earth, but actually seeing it with his own eyes… it was quite an experience.

The window of the car next to the Bentley went down, revealing two children, a boy and a girl, and an animal — a dog, if Gabriel was not mistaken. The children were staring at the Bentley and the little girl was making the dog’s paw wave at the Bentley.

Gingerly, Gabriel waved back.

“She can’t see you, Gabriel”, Aziraphale supplied helpfully. “You need to roll the window down.”

“And don’t you dare doing it. I’m not smelling smog for the rest of this blasted trip to Tadfield”, the demon Crowley threatened, but Gabriel ignored him.

“How do you ‘roll the window down’, may I ask?” he asked instead.

“Angel, don’t you  _ dare _ ”, the demon hissed.

Aziraphale smiled, oh so sweetly. “You need to roll the crank handle, the one on the door next to you. That’s it, that’s correct.”

As soon as the window was open, Gabriel could feel hot air rushing in, and the smell of smog causing him to choke. He doubled over, coughing, and dimly, he could hear the demon saying “I hate you so much.”

For once, Gabriel agreed with the sentiment behind the demon’s words.

—

The air cleared much more significantly as soon as they exited the motorway and the trees were beginning to thicken on the side of the road. Here, it reminded Gabriel of Eden — he had never personally visited it, but he had heard that it was full of greeneries just like this.

The trees grew up so tall, as if trying to reach for the sky. Gabriel couldn’t see the top from inside the Bentley. He was tempted to poke his head out of the window to see, but after a near miss with a large vehicle on the other lane, he thought it would be best to keep his body parts firmly inside the Bentley at all times.

“How long until we reach the Antichrist?” Gabriel asked after awhile. It seemed that they had been driving forever. The sky had turned dark, and he couldn’t see the view outside very clearly.

“We’ll get there soon enough”, Aziraphale answered distractedly as he was fiddling with some buttons. Suddenly, music started to play inside the Bentley, causing Gabriel to jump slightly.

He was unfamiliar with the music, but after awhile, he noticed that his feet was starting to tap with the rhythm.

“ _ Buddy, you're a boy, make a big noise _

_ Playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday _

_ You got mud on your face, you big disgrace _

_ Kicking your can all over the place, singing _ ”

The music continued to play as they entered a village of some sort. True enough to Aziraphale’s word, the Bentley swerved to a stop in front of a house not too long after. 

It was a quaint little house, nothing special. There was no sign or anything that the Antichrist indeed lived in the house. The light coming from the window glowed golden, and inside Gabriel could see humans puttering around.

“Ah, it seems that the Youngs are just starting with dinner”, Aziraphale noted, before he went to knock at the front door

A woman with short hair opened the door and smiled brightly at Aziraphale.

“Mr. Fell! What a surprise!” she called out. “And Mr. Crowley too! Who’s the other guy?”

“Ah, this is Gabriel, an acquaintance of mine”, Aziraphale answered. “I’m afraid he’ll be needing Adam’s help.”

“Oh, of course”, the woman said. For a brief moment, she looked uncertain, but then a smile was back on her face. “Would you like to join us for dinner first, before whatever it is you need with Adam? I made chicken with creamy sauce.”

“That sounds delightful, Mrs. Young”, Aziraphale returned her smile.

The three of them then followed the human woman into the house. A dog came over and growled threateningly at Aziraphale. It took Gabriel a moment to realize that any hound accompanying the Antichrist would be a Hellhound, and he stepped back in fear. Hellhounds’ bite would be deadly to angels.

But he was not an angel anymore, he realized with a pang. So to him, this hound was just a normal dog.

“Down, Dog! That’s just Mr. Fell!” a young child chided as he chased after the Hellhound.

The Antichrist stood in the hallway, the golden curls of his hair haloed his face. He looked like an ancient being, like this. But when Gabriel blinked, the ethereal look was gone.

It had to be his eyes playing tricks.

“Hello, Adam”, Aziraphale greeted the child that was the Antichrist.

“Hi, Mr. Fell. Hi, Mr. Crowley. Who’s the other guy?” the Antichrist — Adam — asked.

“This is Gabriel, an acquaintance of mine”, Aziraphale said.

“Hi, Gabriel”, the Antichrist waved shyly, but then something like recognition snapped into his eyes. “Oh, I remember you! From the airbase? You were kinda rude back then, you and your friend with the fly hat.”

Gabriel resisted the urge to roll his eyes and held back his tongue. If he indeed needed the Antichrist’s help, he had to play nice with the brat.

“It was, ah. The circumstance was different, back then”, Gabriel said. “I was… a little bit high-strung with the botched Apocalypse. I apologize for what I said.”

The Antichrist nodded, seemingly satisfied. The group then moved to another room, where an arrangement of food was laid on the table. A plump man was sitting at the table and he looked up at them, smiling.

“Did you come all the way from London just to ask for Adam’s help?” the plump man asked.

“It was a rather emergency situation that we believe only Adam can assist us with”, Aziraphale answered.

“Oh! You must be famished, then!” the woman said. “I wasn’t expecting guests, so I apologize if the food is a bit lacking.”

“Please don’t apologize, Mrs. Young”, Aziraphale said with a smile. “We should apologize instead for intruding on your lovely dinner.”

The woman who was called Mrs. Young tittered, before serving him a plate of food. “Nonsense, Mr. Fell. You and Mr. Crowley are always welcome here.”

“Just wine for me”, the demon refused the food, so the woman who was called Mrs. Young passed the food over to Gabriel.

Gabriel too was about to refuse the food — but his stomach chose that moment to rumble rather loudly. If the other humans noticed it, they blessedly didn’t say anything.

_ Stupid human body _ , Gabriel sulked as he poked the food in front of him.

The food looked different than what Aziraphale gave him earlier this morning, though it smelled just as good. Gabriel gingerly took a bite and rich taste exploded on his tongue. It tasted good; different, but good.

Aziraphale and his pet demon chatted with the humans as they ate — the demon and the plump human were talking about cars, while Aziraphale and the human woman were talking about the food. 

But Gabriel noticed that the Antichrist was fixing his eyes on him, and only on him. It made Gabriel squirm in his seat, which made no sense. Sure, the Antichrist was  _ the _ Adversary and all that, but he was just a little brat, raised by humans. He didn’t even have his full powers anymore, just whatever was left as his birthright.

Once the food was gone, Aziraphale, Crowley, Gabriel, and the Antichrist headed to the garden. The Hellhound followed closely behind.

“I noticed that you feel different”, the Antichrist told Gabriel as soon as they reached the garden. “You felt… not-human, before, back at the airbase. Ancient. Now you’re just so… normal? I can’t describe it.”

“That’s the thing, Adam”, Aziraphale returned with a sigh. “Gabriel was an angel, but something happened and now he is somehow a human.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a human”, the Antichrist said.

Gabriel wanted to say that there were a lot of things wrong with being a human, but held his tongue. 

“You see”, he said instead. “I am an Archangel —  _ was _ an Archangel. It was an important position in Heaven and I — I have work to do. I can’t stay a human  _ forever _ . The amount of paperwork waiting for me — it doesn’t bear thinking.”

“So you want me to make you an angel once again?” the Antichrist asked, before stretching his hands. “Okay, then. Let’s try this.”

A wave of power swirled around him like a cool breeze and Gabriel could feel it seeping under his skin, making his hair stand on end. It was invasive and nauseating, and Gabriel wanted to recoil from it but forced himself to stand very still. Tendrils of the Antichrist’s power entered his chest, searching for something. And then—

— it was gone.

Gabriel opened his eyes (he hadn’t realized closing them) and saw the Antichrist kneeling on the grassy ground, Aziraphale helping him up. The Antichrist turned his blue, blue eyes towards Gabriel, and somehow, Gabriel just  _ knew _ —

“I’m sorry”, the Antichrist said between gasps. “I think I failed.”

“It’s okay, Adam. You tried your best”, Aziraphale reassured the Antichrist.

“You okay there, Gabe? You look kinda pale”, the demon asked Gabriel.

Gabriel let out a sigh as something like disappointment bloomed in his chest.

“I’m fine”, was all he said.

—

On the way back from Tadfield, in the backseat of the Bentley, Gabriel pretended to be asleep.

Aziraphale had told him that he should rest his human body. It had been a rather long day, after all, and Gabriel would be inclined to agree, if he hadn’t noticed the way Aziraphale looked at that demon pet of his — the kind of look that held a silent conversation.

“What now, angel?” the demon asked in a hushed whisper once they were back on the road. “Our Plan B failed. If even Adam can’t make him an angel once again, I doubt anything can.”

“To be honest, I was worried that it wouldn’t work”, Aziraphale returned in similar fashion. 

“You knew that it wouldn’t work, and yet you ssssstill made me drive all the way to Tadfield?!” the demon hissed in disbelief.

“I had to test my theory”, Aziraphale said. “If Adam can’t reverse what has been done to  _ him _ , then a higher force must be at play.”

It felt like a heavy object was dropped inside his stomach. Of course, Gabriel suspected that God had made him a human. But to have it proven right…

“We’re looking at this wrong”, the demon said, still whispering. “Why did She make him a human?”

“Who knows what She’s thinking”, Aziraphale answered. “Could be ineffable, for all we know.”

“Could it be a punishment? A milder version of the Fall?” the demon asked. There was something like bitterness in his voice, that Gabriel was surprised to find.

There was a creak of leather — Aziraphale was shifting in his seat, it seemed. “Or it could be a test.”

“Whatever it is, we already tried our best”, the demon said. “He’s not our responsibility anymore.”

“Crowley…” Aziraphale shushed.

“What? We already ran out of optionssss”, the demon hissed. “He’s a human, now. He has to deal with it.”

A silence hung as Gabriel waited with bated breath.

“I’ll let him know in the morning”, Aziraphale eventually said.

They didn’t speak anymore for the rest of the trip, but someone had turned on the music. 

“ _ I guess I'm learning (I'm learning), I must be warmer now _

_ I'll soon be turning (turning, turning, turning), 'round the corner now _

_ Outside the dawn is breaking _

_ But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free _ ”

It played somberly inside the Bentley, lulling Gabriel into an actual sleep.

—

When they reached the bookshop, it was well past midnight, and Gabriel woke up rather groggily as he climbed out of the Bentley.

Aziraphale immediately retreated into the back room, a book in one hand and a cup of cocoa in the other. Meanwhile, the demon immediately crashed on one of the couches, long limbs splaying on its surface. Demons didn’t need to sleep, but this one did, it seemed.

Gabriel stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, before heading towards the door. If Aziraphale wanted to get rid of him, he’d better not linger for longer than necessary, then.

It hurt, that Aziraphale, an angel, would rather accept a demon into his house than a fellow angel (or former angel, if that was what he was now). Sure, Gabriel and Aziraphale were not the closest of coworkers, but Gabriel had expected that the other angel would gladly accept him and helped him until he was back an angel once again.

That was not the case, it seemed.

“And where do you think you’re going?” the demon asked all of a sudden, causing Gabriel to jolt slightly in surprise. He had thought the demon had fallen asleep.

“You don’t want me here”, Gabriel answered. “So I thought…”

The demon had taken off his sunglasses for the first time Gabriel had seen him. His eyes were golden and snakelike. And Gabriel knew then, that the demon knew that he had been eavesdropping on their conversation.

With a snap of his fingers, the demon made a card of some sort appeared between his fingers, before handing it to Gabriel. He accepted it, blinking in confusion before reading what was on the card. 

“The House of St. Barnabas”, it read. He was surprised that he could still read human language, but it made things more convenient, at least. 

He still didn’t know why the demon gave him this card.

“It’s a shelter for humans who have nowhere else to go”, the demon said as he slid his sunglasses back on. “Go there and ask for a job. And for Someone’s sake, don’t tell them you used to be an angel.”

Gabriel read the address written on the card and comprehension dawned on him. A place for humans who had nowhere else to go… that was him, wasn’t it?

“I… don’t know what to say”, he told the demon. “Thank you, I suppose. That’s… nice of you.”

It felt odd to describe a demon as ‘nice’, but Gabriel couldn’t fathom why else the demon would want to help him. He was not their responsibility anymore, so the demon said.

“Careful. You’re not immune to demonic temptation now”, the demon threatened with a jut of his chin. “Just go.”

Gabriel didn’t wait until the demon decided he would be an easy target for a demonic temptation. Without further ado, he exited the bookshop and made his way into the streets.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading <3
> 
> check [my tumblr](https://ineffable--soulmates.tumblr.com/) y'all


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